​Ever since I started using my art room instagram this year (@anniesartroom), I've been slacking at taking pictures on my camera for my blog here. So, I don't have too many in-progress photos of this project....

I love teaching self-portraits and I do them with almost every grade every year and switch up the project every time. I thought it would be fun to give the 5th graders some choice as they did theirs this year so they each followed the same process of creating their self-portrait but did it in the style of one of 6 artists that I introduced them to. The artists that they were able to choose from were: Frida Kahlo, Kehinde Wiley, Diela Maharanie, Vincent Van Gogh, Heather Foust and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Before starting the project we looked at a bunch of images via a slideshow and chatted about the different characteristics of each artist. I loved seeing the kids reactions as I showed them the work. I was shocked (and excited) that Jean-Micheal Basquiat seemed to be the most liked by the students and the least popular was Kehinde WIley (which was ironic because he is one of my top artists and probably my favorite from this bunch).

I took pictures of each student and printed them on 8.5" x 11" paper before beginning and the first step for everyone was to trace the contour lines of their faces and shoulders onto 11" x 14" white paper using a lightbox. Students love using lightboxes for some reason....The next step was to use the images provided as inspiration to make a background design that represented both their selected artist as well as themselves. They seemed to really enjoy this step and there were some really cool designs.

Layla in the style of Heather Foust

Julien in the style of Vincent Van Gogh

Ezra in the style of Kehinde Wiley

After the students drew their faces and background designs, they also had a choice of which art medium to use. Their choices were tempera cakes (I just bought Richeson semi-moist tempera cakes for my classroom www.dickblick.com/products/richeson-semi-moist-tempera-cakes/ and am in LOVE with them), markers (basic Crayolas) or colored pencils. Some students chose two-one for their faces and another for their backgrounds, Paints were a popular choice for this project.

The results of these are really great and the best part is that I have a bunch of proud 5th grade artists!

After we all circled around a table and I demonstrated for the students, they began the project by ripping their clay in half and making a pinch pot with one half of clay and using the other half to make different sized and shaped coils. They attached the coils to the pinch pot and formed them to look like different succulent plants. The goal was to have at least 3 plants in their pots. Some students only had three and some probably had closer to ten.

Once the clay sculptures were dried and fired in the kiln, students used bright colored acrylic paints to paint the succulents and the pots. Once dried, I filled them with small stones as well. This made them look more finished and realistic.

The kids LOVE this project. This is the second year I've taught it (though last year we did birds) and the students have a blast making them and the results are colorful and exciting.

This project definitely takes a couple hours of prep work by me but is totally worth it. Before beginning this project, I cut coardboard into a ton of different shapes such as ovals, triangles, diamonds, circles, etc. I make sure I have a bunch of large body shapes (they are between like 8" to 14") and a bunch of smaller pieces for fins, tails and eyes. If I have 30 students, I make like 35 of each so that they each have a choice. Even with box cutters this is pretty time consuming, but that's ok with me.

The first day of this project, students each go to different piles of the cardboard pieces and play with the pieces arranging them until they have a fish shape they like. I tell each student that they must have a tail and at least two fins. Once they come up with a design they like, they use Elmer's glue all to attach the pieces.

The second class, we begin painting. The tail is one color, the fins are each one color and the body is painted with large stripes. The stripes can go horizontal, vertical or diagonal, whichever they prefer. Some students even do squiggly stripes.

The third class, they use other colors to paint patterns over the stripes. Also, they paint and attach the eye(s).

This is a super quick, super successful project and I will probably do something like this every year (maybe robots next year?)...

Teaching this project was such a cool experience for me! I learned so much about Romare Bearden, I jumped out of my comfort zone by teaching a collage, and the students wow'd me with their awesome creations during this super fun collage project.

Last summer our 4th grade language arts teacher reached out to me and asked if I could do an art project to accompany her classroom study of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. I love doing cross-curricular projects and was excited about the opportunity. I went into the project planning on doing a project inspired by Aaron Douglas as I've taught his work before and love him but instead decided to try something new. At the NAEA conference in New Orleans a few years back I took a workshop on Romare Bearden so this was a perfect opportunity to use that experience in my classroom.

I started by researching Romare Bearden because I honestly knew next to nothing about him and his work. As I did so, I fell in love with his collages and am so intrigued by his process.

Bearden created his art using painted paper, magazines, photos, and patterned paper. He did layers of paper and also painted some to create very intricate images depicting stories from his life and stories from the bible and books.

4th graders watched a slide show of his artwork and we discussed his life and his process of creating art. The students had lots of interesting insight and ideas about his work.

Before beginning the project, students had to come up with a design inspired by a dream, a memory or a story. They began by doing a quick sketch of the composition.

The class before beginning the collage, students used texture plates, oil pastels and watercolor paints to make colorful textured painted paper. Using this, construction paper and magazine clippings, students started their collage.

They began by collaging the backgrounds of their designs, they thought about the sky, the ground and things such as clouds, mountains or lakes in their images.

After their background layer was done and the entire white paper was filled, students began to layer the rest of their designs on top. They added people, animals, buildings, trees, furniture and more.

The results were really awesome and best of all, the 4th graders really seemed to love this project. They were super engaged with the process until the very end. A lot of proud artists with this one.

An oldie but goodie. There is an obvious reason why this is such a popular art project in the elementary art world. It is one of those projects that is always really successful and the end product is vibrant and stunning. I wish I could take credit for coming up with this project, but regardless, I'm proud of my students and their hard work they put into it.

This project takes 3-4 class periods and is very engaging for all students. Even my students who "don't like art" got really involved in this clay project.

Each student begins with a styrofoam bowl. Make sure to write the students name on the bottom with Sharpie before beginning. This will save you a lot of hassle, I promise.

I did the clay sculpting with the students in two 40 minute class periods but you could do it in one if you're rushed for time

The first day was spent creating the flower petals. They each started with a slab of clay and cut out 10-15 diamond (or oval or almond) shapes. They put a chunk of clay in the middle to create a base and "scratch and attached" the petals to that base. Next they used tools to create texture and some students cut out other shapes to add more dimension to the petals.

The next class we added details to our center. They began by rolling out a ball of clay, squashing it with their palm and "scratching and attaching" it to the middle to start with a smooth area. Then they added texture and detail to this area as well. Between the two classes we kept the clay wrapped up in plastic bags so that it would stay good and moist.

When the clay sculptures are dry, you can easily remove them from the styrofoam bowls and scratch the students name onto the bottom of the flower bowl.

After the pieces are fired in the kiln, students used colorful Amaco teachers palette glazes to paint their sculptures. This is my favorite brand of glaze for the classroom. With just two coats of glaze, the result is bright and vivid!

If you're anything like me, you may struggle to come up with projects for Pre-K that are both engaging and age appropriate.

This project, let me tell you, has been one of the most successful that I've done with this age. I absolutely love the end result and seeing how each students artwork turns out so unique. They really enjoyed the process too and got a little messy along the way.

Students each started with a long strip of paper, probably 6" x 18". I cut up strips of poster board so they would be nice and sturdy but any paper would work fine.

They started by using a blue crayon, laying it on it's side and rubbing it all over the paper to create the sky. Some students selected dark blue while others chose light blue and some even chose more of a seafoam color.

Before they begin printing and adding the flowers, I cut up a bunch of cardboard into little squares and rectangles. I put a paint tray on each table with three different shades of green and they use the edges of the rectangles to print 'grass' all along the bottom of the paper. They also did a few tall grasses to use next time for their flower stems.

During the next class, I prep the same by cutting new rectangles and squares from cardboard and also provide them with some old pencils, maker tops, etc. This time I give them a few colors to choose from that will work well with flowers. I used yellow, orange, pink and purple this year.

After discussing how there are tons of different types of flowers, they went to town creating their own flowers. This is where the students really had fun and their individuality began to shine. There were big flowers, little flowers, silly flowers, realistic flowers, etc.

I absolutely love how these turned out, look at some of these awesome flowers!

We began this by doing observational drawings of a bunch of different plants. I borrowed houseplants from my fellow teachers classrooms for this. The students did multiple large contour line drawings of the plants, mostly focusing on the leaves.

The next step is to trace the drawing with Sharpie and then put the drawing underneath a piece of wax paper and a piece of white fabric over that. The wax paper is crucial so that the glue doesn't go to the fabric and stick to the drawing or to the table. Tape it all to a table of board so that it doesn't move. After taping it down, you will be able to see the drawing through the fabric. Use blue gel glue to trace over the drawing onto the fabric. I've tried other glues as well and others work but the blue gel glue is absolutely the best.

Let the glue dry completely. Overnight is the best. Once it is totally dried, use watered down acrylic (or fabric) paints to paint over the entire fabric. Be sure to cover the glue with paint too. This assures that you have a great batik effect with strong white lines.

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Again, let it dry completely.

The next step is to run warm/hot water and fill a bin. Separate the fabric from the wax paper and drawing. Soak the fabric for at least 10 minutes. After about 10-20 minutes, use hands to rub all of the excess glue.

Once the glue is completely removed from the fabric, rinse it in warm water and hang it to dry.

The images turn our very vivid and colorful! You can see how each students design turned out very different. I gave them a limited color palette to work with since they will be used to make a quilt.

I wish I could take credit for the next step but I passed the batiks over to my friend and she took care of the rest. She sewed it all into this fabulous quilt. I love it sooooo much and wish I could keep it forever....but we sold it at the school auction.

To begin this project, I had a conversation with the students about all of the amazing things that we do with our hands. Some of the ideas that students shared were: playing football, gardening, writing letters, painting, cooking, hugging, taking care of pets, playing piano, holding hands, baking, sculpting, playing basketball, doing yoga, praying, etc.

I'm ashamed to say that I somehow managed to take zero pictures of the process of this project but I hope you enjoy the images of the finished product.

After brainstorming of things we do with our hands, students each traced their hand onto apiece of paper and selected an image or symbol to draw on their palm representing what they personally do with their hands. They filled in the background space with a simple pattern.

They transferred these designs onto styrofoam sheets by tracing their drawing with a pen which created indentations of the design onto the foam.

Next I set up printing stations for the students to roll ink onto the foam and to print the image onto paper. Over three class periods, each student created between 5-10 prints.

These landscape paintings took the students about 7 classes to finish and so many students really poured their heart into their artwork. I saw 5th graders totally immersed in the process and lots of students being courageous trying new techniques.

We began this project by looking at photographs of the lovely landscape where we live. Our school is less than a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway and being in Asheville, we are a few minutes drive from these gorgeous mountain views. We looked at photographs of mountain landscapes during sunrise, mid-day and sunset. I helped direct a conversation about the three layers that are seen in each (background, midground, foreground) and about how during the different times of day, the colors are different in each layer.

Students began this project by drawing a sketch first and using colored pencils to show what colors they would be using. I told them that I should be able to tell what time of day it was just by looking at their sketches and seeing what colors they selected.Next they drew two lines across their canvases to separate the image into the three layers-background, midground, foreground. ​I'm annoyed that I didn't take any photos of the next step, but they each selected just one color for each layer and painted in each layer. Many of the kids were very confused about this step and ha a hard time grasping why they would choose just ONE color to paint a layer when there are obviously so many more colors.I reassured them that many artists work in a similar way and that it provides a base color as they add in more layers and details of other colors.

We used acrylic paints for this project that I pre-mixed. I had about 30 different colors set out for them. I just put lids on them between classes to keep them wet.

Next, we began adding other colors and details to the background. They started by painting the colors that are seen in the sky (not the clouds) and practiced blending the colors together with wet paint and water. Once that was finished, the students added the clouds. They focused on the main color of the clouds and added shadows. Most students spent 2-3 whole class periods working on the background. After we were completely finished with this project and I asked students their favorite part of this, almost all students said the sky was the most fun (and most challenging).

Students used the same technique on their midground and foreground. We talked about painting in the base colors that they see then adding in details and shadows.

On the foreground, students made sure to make the trees, flowers, etc that were further back smaller than what was closer.

I absolutely LOVE how these landscapes turned out. Each student's unique style really shines. They worked hard and were very engaged during these paintings. I am a very proud art teacher!